U.S. Supreme Court will not hear latest appeal by murderer

The John David Stumpf capital murder case, after nearly three decades of appeals, may be winding to a conclusion after the U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to hear Stumpf's latest appeal.

Guernsey County Prosecutor Daniel G. Padden said he will ask the Ohio Supreme Court to set an execution date for Stumpf, who was convicted of the May 1984 murder of Mary Jane Stout, of New Concord.

The Ohio Supreme Court sets the date for executions which, at present, are scheduled through January 2016.

Padden said he was satisfied with the Supreme Court's decision in declining to hear Stumpf's appeal because it was consistent with justice.

Although the wheels of justice turned slowly in this case, that pace insured that all of the facts had been reviewed very carefully, he said.

The rejected appeal had been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in July. Stumpf had sought to have the court overturn a July 3 ruling of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the death sentence.

On May 13, 1984, Stumpf was traveling in Guernsey County on Interstate 70 with two other men -- Clyde Daniel Wesley and Norman Leroy Edmunds -- when they stopped along the highway near New Concord.

While Edmonds waited in his car, Stumpf and Wesley, both concealing weapons, walked to the Stout house and gained entry under the pretext of needing to use the telephone.

While Stumpf held Mary Jane and Norman Stout at gunpoint, Wesley began ransacking the house. When Mr. Stout made a move toward Stumpf, Stumpf shot him twice in the head. As Mr. Stout regained consciousness, he heard two male voices in another room and, then, four gunshots -- the gunfire that killed his wife.

Stumpf was indicted on June 14, 1984. After he was convicted, he was sentenced on Sept. 27, 1984.